Narrative Therapy As A Approach To Therapy

1085 Words3 Pages

Narrative therapy is a change oriented strategy or approach to therapy in which the client is encouraged to tell the story of a particular problem or event. While this in itself is a common practice in therapy, narrative therapy goes deeper into the story to explore the meaning prescribed to these events, and seeks to assist the client in understanding its affect on the present and potential future life and relationships with others. Narrative therapy can be considered change oriented as it allows the client to determine the direction and content discussed, the therapist only guides with questions that we don’t already have an answer to. Narrative therapy treats clients with respect and is careful not to place blame or shame upon …show more content…

A thin description allows little room for varying views and complexities, it does not accommodate contradictions, thus, obscuring other potential meanings. A thin conclusion is the result of connected thin descriptions and is often expressed as the “truth about a person”, the problem thereby becomes a person’s identity. As you can imagine, this could cause isolation, disconnection, and disempowerment. (Morgan,2002) Jill Freedman and Gene Combs described narrative therapy in practice in this way: “Narrative therapist are interested in working with people to bring forth and thicken stories that do not support or sustain problems. As people begin to inhabit and live out the alternative stories, the results are beyond solving problems. Within the new stories, people live out new self-images, new possibilities for relationships and new futures”. …show more content…

Education serves to empower the client and potentially their family (if participating), by providing knowledge about a particular topic. This knowledge can provide alternative coping strategies and a deeper understanding of their problem, illness, or situation. An important aspect of the psychoeducational approach is that it places more responsibility on the client to recognize triggers and symptoms and practice techniques learned for different outcomes. Psychoeducation has its roots in cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), and you will find that many of the presented lessons are part of CBT. This approach places symptoms, responses, and thought processes in context and provides for processing of complex emotions. It helps clients develop new coping skills that can be practiced in a person’s everyday

Open Document